CHENNAI: The State government is proposing to amend the Protection of Human Rights Act to make a retired judge of the Madras High Court eligible for appointment as the chairman of the Tamil Nadu State Human Rights Commission, Advocate-General AL Somayaji told the First Bench of the High Court on Monday.
When a contempt application seeking to punish the officials concerned for failure to appoint a retired Chief Justice of the High Court, as directed by it earlier, came up, Somayaji told the First Bench of Chief Justice SK Kaul and Justice M Sathyanarayanan that no retired Chief Justice was available to fill the post of SHRC chairman. Effective steps are being taken to amend the Act and make a retired judge of the High Court eligible for the post, the AG said and prayed for eight weeks more to do so.
Originally, advocate T Sundaravadanam filed a PIL praying for a direction to the government to fill the post of SHRC chairman, which was lying vacant from August 2011.
Disposing of the PIL, the First Bench headed by the then Chief Justice MY Eqbal in November 2012, directed the government to fill the post, as quickly as possible, preferably within three months. As this was not complied with even now, the petitioner filed the present contempt application.